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Keeping Ramadan fast during hot days adds to challenge

For the next 29 or 30 days, healthy Muslims will refrain from consuming food, drink and even oral medication from dawn until sunset.

A Palestinian vendor sells dates for Ramadan at a market in the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday. In Muslim countries, society may adjust to a different schedule during Ramadan. In North America, Muslims plan ahead to better manage daylight fasting during the hottest days of the year. (Mohammed Ballas / AP)

By Helen BranswellThe Canadian Press

Tues., July 9, 2013

TORONTO—This week Muslims begin an important annual ritual prescribed by the Qur’an. For the next 29 or 30 days, healthy Muslims will fast during daylight hours, refraining from consuming food, drink and even oral medication from dawn until sunset.

Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan, which, because Islam uses a lunar calendar, does not fall at exactly the same time every year. The fact that in recent years Ramadan has fallen during the longest and hottest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere adds to the challenge of observing the fast in a healthy manner, experts admit.

“It is going to be difficult this year for many people, at least in this part of the world,” says Dr. Aasim Padela, a practising Muslim and an emergency room physician at the University of Chicago Hospital.

Observing the Ramadan fast is easier when the month falls in the winter, at a time when the span from dawn till sunset may be as short as eight hours and the risk of dehydration is lower. This year, though, Ramadan begins shortly after the summer solstice, when days are at their longest. Depending on the location and how they interpret the Qur’an, Muslims may have started the month of fasting as of Monday or will start Tuesday or Wednesday.

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A religious leader with the Islamic Foundation of Toronto says for people who follow the guidance of the Crescent Committee — which believes the new moon that signifies the start of Ramadan should be spotted, not scientifically calculated — the first day of fasting is likely to be Wednesday, July 10.

Imam Yusef Badat explains that in the Qur’an, Muslims are exhorted to fast during daylight hours to remind themselves of the plight of the poor and to develop self-discipline.

Using a day late last week to show how long the fast will last in the early days of this year’s Ramadan, Badat notes that dawn was at 3:20 a.m. and sunset was at 9:02 p.m. — almost 18 hours during which no food, drink or oral medication could be consumed by those who fast.

The Qur’an exempts pregnant women, nursing mothers, people who are sick and children who haven’t reached puberty from having to fast.

Adults who have temporary health problems can make up days by fasting later, when their health permits them to do so. And those who are too frail or too unwell to fast at all can compensate by paying what’s called “fidah” or compensation, Badat says — the equivalent of about $10 a day to help feed the poor.

Because the fast includes anything consumed orally, even down to medication, people with health conditions should consult with their doctors and their religious leaders to decide whether they can safely fast, says Padela, who himself will observe Ramadan.

Lots of studies have been done to look at whether fasting is safe for people with different conditions, he says, pointing to diabetes as one where concerns have been raised.

“There are some people who have good diabetic control who are on some medicines that can be taken during that time period,” Padela says. Others, in whom the disease is not well controlled, might not be able to fast.

“There’s a very granular level discussion that needs to occur at the level of what the patient’s circumstances are, what their illness is, what their comorbidities (existing conditions) are and what their body, their physiology can tolerate and not tolerate,” he says.

Those who are fasting adjust their days to consume calories and imbibe fluids when they can. Brunch may take place at 2:30 a.m., Badat says. And people may nap after work as they wait for the sun to go down.

In Muslim countries, society may adjust to a different schedule during Ramadan. Even in North America, Muslims plan ahead, Badat says.

Some will talk with their employers about working reduced hours or rearranging their work hours. If no accommodation can be made and a person cannot safely fast during a hot day — say a construction worker toiling under a beating summer sun — that day or those days can be made up later. The Qur’an makes it clear people are not to make themselves ill by fasting, Badat says.

“When we’re living in a part of the world where we’re considered a minority, it can be challenging but it’s not impossible.”

Dr. Michael Finkelstein of Toronto Public Health says people who are observing the Ramadan fast need to make sure they drink enough fluids during the hours when the sun is down, and need to keep dehydration in mind.

“July is a pretty hot month here. So they need to be aware of the early signs and symptoms of dehydration,” says Finkelstein, who is an associate medical officer of health for Toronto.

“Things like dizziness, light-headedness, headaches, intense tiredness, dry mouths and obviously the colour of their urine can get quite dark — those are indications that their fluid balance is in trouble.”

He also suggests deferring outdoor tasks, if possible. “So if there are things that need to be done that don’t have to be done during the middle of the day, try to move those to times during the day when it’s cooler — early evening or early in the day so that you can avoid stressing your body at the height of the heat of the day, basically.”

Correction: July 9, 2013:
This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Islam uses a solar calendar.

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